Philippines, Mexico commit to improve trade, culture ties

The Philippines and Mexico on Monday vowed to increase cooperation when it comes to trade and culture.

This as Mexico’s Ambassador-designate Daniel Hernandez Joseph presented his credentials to President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. during a ceremony at Malacañang.

Hernandez Joseph said Mexico and the Philippines are connectors between Asia and America, noting that "through that role, there is so much we can do in trade, in culture, in science."

For his part, Marcos emphasized that the new economy has been calling for a new workforce with different skills than what countries traditionally depended upon before.

“And much of the work we are doing to transform the economy is to transform the workforce so that the daily technologies are understood. It extends in every field,” he said.

“So I think that changes the relationship and that changes the possibilities, the potentials that we should explore,” Marcos added.

Marcos also thanked the Mexican government for taking care of Filipinos there, as he noted the strong Filipino community in Mexico.

Hernandez Joseph mentioned to the President that Mexico’s national university had started offering Filipino studies.

“It’s just beginning which again like I said opens new opportunities for furthering the knowledge and exchange of each other today not only in history but who we are together and what we can do together today,” he said.

The Presidential Communications Office said that diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Mexico were established on April 14, 1953, with the Philippines opening its embassy in Mexico City also on that year.

Citing a February 2023 data, the PCO said there are 1,206 Filipinos in Mexico who are mainly craft and trade related workers, technicians and associate professionals, and other industry professionals. —KBK, GMA Integrated News